The invention relates to a plate apparatus suitable for heat and/or material exchange having a plurality of plates that contact each other flush along a peripheral seal while forming respective intermediate spaces and that have upper through-flow openings and lower through-flow openings for fluids, wherein a group of these upper and lower through-flow openings is allocated to at least two fluids to be mixed and is connected by correspondingly placed seals to every second plate intermediate space that carries a flow from top to bottom, and wherein in flush upper through-flow openings of the specified group a distribution lance runs across these openings and has outlet openings for at least one fluid.
To the extent the terms “seal” or “sealed” or the like are used here and in the following, these should be considered to relate not only to separate, standalone seals between adjacent plates, but also to include the material-joining connection of plates by welding or soldering—thus without additional sealing.
The invention is based on known plate heat exchangers, in which the through-flow openings are sealed relative to the plate intermediate spaces, such that every second plate intermediate space carries a flow of one fluid and the plate intermediate spaces lying therebetween carry a flow of the other fluid. As an example, DE 103 22 406 of the same applicant is referenced, whose content is incorporated herein by reference and is thus also included in the content of the present application. The theme of that application is the most uniform possible loading of the plate gap by the in-flowing medium. For that purpose, it is proposed to provide on the inflow side of the plate a plurality of inflow openings, which extend across the entire width of the plate and thus cause a more uniform loading of the plate gap across its width.
Consequently, there is also the need to load every second plate intermediate space with two different phases of a fluid, namely both with the liquid phase and also the gaseous phase. In this case, care must be taken, especially for the liquid phase, that a uniform distribution to the allocated plate intermediate spaces is ensured. For this purpose DE 1 269 144, from which the present application starts, proposes to arrange a distribution lance in the form of a spray tube in the upper through-flow openings. This spray tube has radially running spray openings, through which the fluid is supplied to plate intermediate spaces allocated to it while crossing the surrounding gas space. In this way, a thorough mixing of the liquid phase with the gas phase is produced before and in the plate intermediate space.